1936-7 Ebonized Pearl Sheaffer Balance Standard Size Medium-fine Feather Touch 5 nib - Vacuum-Fil

This pen once had a name heat stamped into the barrel just above the manufacturer's imprint. Someone scratched out the personalization leaving a deep and ugly scar. I have repaired the pen with 10 layers of celluloid. Each layer cured for at least 48 hours so the entire restoration took weeks. The result is that few could see the repaired site unless they knew just where to look and feel.

The celluloid has excellent color and clarity. The surface layers with embedded the nacre chips are clear celluloid that often turns yellow-brown with UV exposure. The pen shows off the shimmer and color of the nacre chips.

There is a bit of missing plating at the clip ball. And a few small teeth marks at the end of the barrel and filler knob. The teeth marks are too small to fill but too deep to sand away.

The Feather Touch 5 nib is the same size as a modern #5 nib. Though there are no modern #5 nibs that perform on this level. It is soft and expressive and provides very nice line variation under normal writing pressure. It is not meant to be pushed like a flexible or even semi-flexible nib.

This pen is comparable in physical dimensions to a modern Pelikan M6xx or Sailor 1911L (ProFit 21).

Length
Capped - 135 mm (5.3”)
Uncapped - 114 mm (4.5”)
Posted - 156 mm (6.2”).
Diameter
Cap - 13.3 mm (0.52”)
Barrel - 11.2 mm (0.44”)

Filler
Vacuum-Fil

Nib
Modern, Western Medium-Fine with lovely line variation